Data for dummies: 6 data-analysis tools anyone can use

I’ve spent about an hour playing with these tools, I’m loving Statwing, and will use it to analyse some of the data we’ve got on adoption of new technology. The Infogram tool also has potential to help present data in a more appealing way.

If you care only about the cutting edge of machine learning and how to manage petabytes of big data, you might want to quit reading now and just come to our Structure:Data conference in March. But if you’re a normal person dealing with mere normal data, you’ll probably want to stick around. Although your data might not be that big or complex, that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth looking at in a new light.

With that in mind, here are six of the best free tools I’ve come across for helping we mere mortals analyze our data without having to know too much about, well, anything (I’d keep an eye on the still-under-wraps Datahero, too). I’ve gathered some personal data and tracked down some interesting public data sets to help demonstrate what a novice can do with them. Someone with more skills can certainly do a lot more, and…